The Ancient Tongue
by ChocolateAntelope
Summary: FE9/10 "I don't know... 'The Ancient Tongue' is a really cliche name for a language, don't you think?" Various people in the army, beorc and laguz alike, bicker over a new name for the language.


Warning: People will be a little ooc. (I tried to make everyone in character, but... You'll see.)

Also I don't own FE. Well, the disclaimer is also on my profile, so that was completely redundant. Anyway...

The people in the army crowded around the campfires, eating their dinner in the warmth of the flames. Since most people were more concerned about finding a warm place to eat than they were about being with their friends (whom they got to see everyday anyway), people from all sorts of different classes and nationalities came together to dine.

Marcia was a little late, since she had to feed her Pegasus first, so she was lucky to claim the last seat, which was next to Astrid. Aside from her, there was Ike (who was unfortunately sitting beside an infatuated Aimee), Laura, Edward, Shinon, Rolf, Lyre, Meg, Reyson, and some other beorc and laguz whose names she didn't know.

It was mostly quiet. Everyone was wolfing down their dinner, though some people made small talk with each other. Aimee was blabbering on about something to Ike, though he quite obviously wasn't listening to her bothersome chatter. Instead, he seemed to be paying attention to Volug and Reyson, who were both conversing in The Ancient Tongue.

To no one in particular, Ike said, "Today, I talked with Queen Nailah and Volug about our different languages, the Tellius language and The Ancient Tongue. Now, I notice that it's really unique, isn't it?"

Edward, however, got the wrong idea. "I don't know... 'The Ancient Tongue' is a really cliche name for a language, don't you think?"

"It's not only called The Ancient Tongue. It's also called the ancient language and ancient speech," Laura pointed out.

"Ancient tongue, ancient language, ancient speech, whatever! It's all still the same!" Edward shrugged.

Before Ike could correct them and tell them what he actually meant, Astrid meekly called out, "I agree. Why don't we give it a new name?"

Before Ike could protest, many people around the circle voiced their assent. He sighed in exasperation and simply gulped down his soup, listening to the others.

"How about the 'Magic Language'?" Meg suggested. At this, stopped talking and stared at her, causing her to feel self-conscious. "Sorry, I just thought that since mages use it for magic, we could call it that."

Some people laughed out loud. Others were actually considering it. Most people had no comment. Then, Shinon shouted way too loudly, "Why not the 'subhuman language'?"

Growls and threatening looks from any laguz present were his answers. "'Subhuman'? Ha! I'll show you 'subhuman'," Lyre snarled.

Before any fights could break out, Ike jumped up. "Both of you, stand down!" They reluctantly stopped, and resumed eating their meal, glaring at each other all the while. "And actually Shinon, according to Queen Nailah, the _laguz_ first started speaking the new language because The Ancient Tongue was difficult to master. Mordecai also once mentioned that he doesn't usually even use a spoken language. He speaks with growls and gestures. The only reason dragon and heron laguz speak it is because they live longer and had the time to learn it."

"But what about the wolf laguz?" Marcia asked. "They speak it too!"

"It's their common language," Ike answered.

Aimee batted her eyes at him. "General Ike, how you can be so sweet and strong _and_ smart is just stunning. And it's not only that!..." She blathered on and on, which everyone was able to ignore well enough.

"Hey! Let's call it the 'Hatari language'!" Edward exclaimed.

Not many people liked his idea. "People all over Tellius speak it, though," several people objected.

"'Olden speak'?"

"Nah, it has a bad ring to it." "Are you serious? That just sounds bad."

""History's language'?"

"It's a bit of a mouthful." "Um..." "Really? What kind of a name is that?"

"'The native language'?" "'The original language'?"

"That's... Actually not bad." Nope, next!"

Finally, everyone was quiet. They'd all ran out of ideas and comments.

Until Rolf suddenly leapt from his seat, sending soup flying all over himself. People snickered at his clumsiness. Shinon looked mortified. "Rolf! I taught you better than that!" He hissed.

Rolf ignored him and the soup dripping down his clothes. "I just thought of the best name ever! Let's call it 'Heronese'!"

"Were you even listening to me?" Ike muttered to himself at the same time Reyson snapped, "Let's not."

Unfortunately, they were drowned out by everyone shouting out their approval. "Yeah, that's great!" "Perfect!" "Finally, something we can all agree on!"

If looks could kill, Reyson would have easily fried everyone to crisps, but no one noticed. Fortunately, Volug consoled him by whispering something in Heronese in his ear. When the heron heard it, he started cracking up. Everyone shut up at once. No one had ever heard Reyson laugh like that before. It sounded maniacal, even a bit evil.

Nervously, Laura asked, "Reyson? What is it?"

"Well, if you must know," Reyson replied with a smirk on his face. "Don't you think the 'Tellius language' also sounds like a bad name for a language?"

All the laguz who heard this grinned evilly and and started shouting out scandalous ideas and names.

What little peace there was dissolved as the beorc and the laguz sided with their race. Accusations were hurled, food was thrown, and it only ended when each kind started shunning each other and speaking to each other in their own language, whether it be the "weakling sniveling human language" or "the decrepit useless birdbrain language", as the other would call it.


End file.
